Europe and domestic worries keep stocks in check

Updated: 5:17 p.m. ET

This is a cliche, but it's true. Bulls and bears battled all day for the soul of the stock market, but the bout ended basically in a draw.

The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU) and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) managed to end higher for the fourth straight day, their first four-day gains since June.

But the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) came up short, due to a big loss in shares of Priceline.com (PCLN) and such key stocks as Expedia (EXPE), Oracle (ORCL) and Amazon.com (AMZN).

Priceline late Tuesday and rival Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) today warned that weakness in Europe and a rising dollar are going to press on earnings growth going forward. Europe also was a problem for fashion retailer Ralph Lauren (RL) and was a contributor to slowing July sales for McDonald's (MCD). 

The Dow closed up 7 points to 13,176. The S&P 500 was up 1 point to 1,402. The Nasdaq fell 5 points to 3,011. If you're a bull, however, you had to like that the S&P 500 finished above 1,400 and the Nasdaq closed above 3,000 for the second day in a row. The indexes had crossed those levels on Tuesday for the first time since May.

Article continues below. The Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX), which tracks the largest Nasdaq stocks, was off 3 points at 2,714. Apple (AAPL), the biggest influence on the index, was down $1.05 to $619.86.

After the close, News Corp. (NWSA) shares were down 0.5% to $23.60. Earnings of 32 cents a share were in line with estimates but down 4 cents from a year ago. Revenue of $8.37 billion was off 6.6% from a year ago and missed Street estimates by $360 million.

Monster Beverage (MNST) shares were down $8.27 to $59.50 after hours. Earnings of 59 cents a share were below the Street estimate of 62 cents. Revenue of $593 million was up 22% from a year ago, but it missed the consensus estimate by $3 million.

Europe helps reverse early selling
Europe was a big reason why U.S. stocks came back from their lows this morning. European stocks rebounded from early lows and finished basically flat on the day. Germany's Xetra Dax Index ($DE:DAX) was down as many as 61 points but rallied in the last 90 minutes of trading to finish off just 2 points to 6,966. The euro also bounced higher after falling to as low as $1.233.

The market has been rallying in recent weeks as expectations for action from the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve grew. Economic data still point to lackluster demand worldwide, Reuters noted, and European central banks are projecting poor growth for coming quarters.

Some of that hope for the Fed making a big move faded today after Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank, told Bloomberg News the Fed has done enough easing. Plus, he said, central banks no longer have big-enough tools to make a difference.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England gave little indication that it would rush to pour in further stimulus even as it sharply cut its forecast for medium-term economic growth in Britain. France's central bank forecast a contraction in growth going into the third quarter, citing weak demand from the periphery and Britain.

Spanish benchmark 10-year yields briefly rose above 7%, underscoring the cautious tone from investors recently disappointed by lack of coordination from European officials in their efforts to reignite the economy.

The Labor Department will report on weekly jobless claims before Thursday's open, and the Commerce Department will report on the nation's trade balance for June.

Earnings are due from AMC Networks (AMCX), Elizabeth Arden (RDEN), for-profit education company DeVry (DV) and upscale department store operator Nordstrom (JWN).

Energy prices -- New York close
			Wed.			Tues.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Crude oil (-CL)			$93.35			$93.67			9.88%			-5.54%
(per barrel)
Heating oil (-HO)			$3.0159			$2.9980			11.29%			3.49%
(per gallon)
Natural gas (-NG)			$2.9330			$2.9640			3.86%			-1.87%
(per mil. BTU)
Unleaded gasoline (-RB)			$2.9804			$2.9913			13.25%			12.15%
(per gallon)
Brent crude			$111.97			$112.00			14.49%			4.27%
(per barrel)
Retail gasoline			$3.6470			$3.6340			9.29%			11.32%
(per gallon; AAA)

Hewlett-Packard boosts earning guidance, expects big write-down
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), up 45 cents to $19.41, was the top performer among the 30 Dow stocks after raising its guidance for the fiscal third quarter.

But the company also said it will write down the value of its services segment by about $8 billion, underscoring the division's struggles and how much the company overpaid for Electronic Data Systems in 2008. HP bought the company for some $13 billion.

McDonald's flat sales
McDonald's was the Dow's worst performer, down $1.48 to $87.53, after the fast-food giant reported flat same-store sales for July. The decline trimmed the Dow by about 10 points.

The measure, which charts revenue from outlets open at least a year, is a key indicator for retailers. U.S. sales were off 0.1%, with European sales down 0.6% and Asian sales down 1.5%. It was the worst monthly same-store sales report in nine years, Reuters said.

McDonald's had warned in June that it was seeing the global economy weigh on its business.
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"We've grown used to seeing McDonald's weather bad economies, so this is a bit of a surprise," RBC Capital analyst Larry Miller told Reuters.

Priceline and Orbitz see struggles from Europe
Priceline, down $117.48 to $562.32, reported late Tuesday a rare quarter of lower-than-expected revenue and predicted stark deceleration to come. "Concerns related to sovereign debt and the viability of the euro have negatively impacted historical operating results and are likely to impact future results," the company said.

Priceline was the biggest loser among stocks in both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100.

Orbitz, meanwhile, was off $1.19 to $3.47. The company earned $4.6 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $8.9 million, or 8 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue fell just slightly to $200.9 million from $201.8 million last year. But the company had expected revenue gains.

It sees $197 million to $203 million in revenue for the third quarter; Wall Street has been looking for $216.3 million. The outlook, the company said, "reflects the deterioration in economic conditions in Europe, weaker air volume in the U.S. online travel company channel and foreign exchange head winds."

Rivals Expedia (EXPE) and Tripadvisor (TRIP) were also off sharply today in response to the two reports.

A middling market
Nineteen of the 30 Dow stocks were higher, led by Hewlett-Packard, Alcoa (AA) and Walt Disney (DIS), which reported strong earnings late Tuesday.

McDonald's and United Technologies (UTX) were the laggards.

A total of 271 S&P 500 stocks were higher, led  by Dean Foods (DF), Computer Sciences (CSC), and International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF).

Alpha Natural Resources and Trip Advisor were the laggards after Priceline.

Fifty-six Nasdaq-100 stocks were higher. The winners were Express Scripts (ESRX) and Sirius XM Radio (SIRI). Priceline.com and Warner Chilcott (WCRX) were the laggards.

Oil pulls back; gold pushes higher
Oil prices were higher for much of the day, but are pulling back after the Energy Department reported lower-than-expected demand.

Crude oil (-CL) in New York settled down 32 cents to $93.35 a barrel. It had peaked at $94.72. The national average retail price of gasoline hit $3.647 a gallon, up from Tuesday's $3.634 a gallon, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The price has risen 9.3% since June 30.

Gold (-GC) settled at $1,616 an ounce, up $3.20. Silver (-SI) and copper (-HG) were lower.

Short hits from the markets -- New York close
			Wed.			Tues.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Treasury yields
13-week Treasury bill			0.1000%			0.090%			0.00%			900.00%
5-year Treasury note			0.719%			0.703%			20.03%			-13.37%
10-year Treasury note			1.640%			1.628%			-1.15%			-12.35%
30-year Treasury bond			2.740%			2.719%			-0.83%			-5.16%
Currencies
U.S. Dollar Index			82.439			82.250			0.84%			2.38%
British pound			1.5657			1.5627			-0.30%			0.77%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in pounds			£0.639			£0.640			0.30%			-0.76%
Euro in dollars			$1.24			$1.24			-2.08%			-4.60%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in euros			€ 0.809			€ 0.806			2.12%			4.82%
U.S. $ in yen			78.68			78.60			-1.34%			2.05%
U.S. $ in Chinese			6.38			6.36			0.20%			0.93%
yuan
Canada dollar			$1.006			$1.004			2.37%			2.52%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. dollar			$0.995			$0.996			-2.31%			-2.46%
(in Canadian $)
Commodities
Gold (-GC)			$1,616.00			$1,612.80			0.74%			3.14%
(per troy ounce)
Copper (-HG)			$3.422			$3.441			-2.15%			-0.42%
(per pound)
Silver (-SI)			$28.0750			$28.0860			1.68%			0.57%
(per troy ounce)
Wheat (-ZW)			$8.8900			$8.8900			17.40%			36.19%
(per bushel)
Corn (-ZC)			$8.0050			$8.005			26.11%			23.82%
(per bushel)
Cotton			$0.7600			0.754			6.55%			-17.10%
(per pound)
Coffee			$1.7050			1.7265			-0.12%			-25.76%
(per pound)
Crude oil (-CL)			$93.35			$93.67			9.88%			-5.54%
(per barrel)